patagonia
A piece of my heart and soul are in Patagonia. A world where every picture you take is postcard perfect. From steamboat rides around the lakes of Bariloche to penguins, whales and seals oh my, to awe striking mountain views to life transforming glaciers. In.cre.di.ble.
Bariloche is a magical mountain town channeling Switzerland charm. It’s surrounded by lakes that you can tour by boat, including a stop on an island full of eucalyptus trees that supposedly was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Bambi. From there a straight shot 10 hour bus ride to Puerto Madryn where you can tour the peninsula and see whales, elephant seals, and penguins so close you could touch them.
Next the longest bus ride of my life. It took 32 hours to ride all the way down to the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia. I hiked through my first (and so far only) peat bog to the top of a mountain, toured the edge of the world by boat where the seals sun themselves on the same islands that evidence has been found of human settlements of over 10,000 years ago.
If you’ve ever seen a glacier in person, it’s life changing. The Moreno glacier near El Calafate is so large it takes ice formed at its top 300 years to reach the edge and fall into the sea. I spent several hours staring at its magnitude and majesty and I will never forget that day as long as I live.
If this weren’t enough, the flatirons of El Chalten are also incredibly amazing. I ran out of time to do more trekking but this place cast its spell on me that I must return.
After 9 months backpacking in Latin America, I left Patagonia and made my way back home in the US. I made dozens of friends from other countries, risked life and limb several times, spent hours and hours in buses and boats, and saw depths and beauty of this world you can see no where else. I also learned how to be on my own, to face fear, and to trust the unknown. It was an incredible, humbling and empowering privilege and I am who I am because of it.
